Cochin was born in a storm, nurtured in rivalry, and established as the Crossroads of the Battling Empires of Europe: Portuguese, Dutch and British.

In the 1340's torrential rains filled the Periyar River which broke through to the Arabian Sea and formed Cochin's protected harbour. Trading ships soon sailed in and out. The much photographed 'Chinese' fishing nets at harbour-mouth, best seen at sunset, testify to Cochin's pre-European associations with China.

And in an intriguing sidenote to history, the Americas were discovered by Christopher Colombus and Pedro Alvarez Cabrel, and named after Amerigo Vespucci: all three were searching for trade ties with Cochin. Success, However, came to another European navigator.

In 1502, Portuguese Seafare Vasco da Gama came to Cochin seeking spices and converts. He found his spices, launched Europe's great Age of Exploration : and prayed in the first European church in Asia. His Roman Catholic faith, however, conflicted with the existing Syrian Christian relegion brought..... ...... along with the Flowering Cross .......... reputedly by Apostle Thomas Didymus in AD 52. Cochin's ancient Christians swore on their revered, slanting. Coonen Cross, that they would never accept aggressive Portuguese suzerainity. Vasco da Gama died in Cochin on Christmas day 1524 and was buried in his church.

Though his remains were later removed to Portugal, his grave is marked with a plaque and a brass rail.

Portuguese headstones and those of their successors are embedded in the walls of St. Francis Church: reputedly named after the gentle Italian, St. Francis of Assisi, but associated with the Spanish missionary, St. Francis Xavier, who is said to have worshipped here.

Unlike the Portuguese, Cochin's kings were very tolerant of other faiths. European jews, fleeing persecution at home, settled in Jew Town near the Mattancherry Palace of the Hindu king and prospered. Many Jewish families have now migrated but their beutiful four-century-old Synagogue still has the Scrolls of the Law. Gold crowns gifted by dignitaries down the ages, chandliers and a brass-railed pulpit. Jewish brides, here still wear their richly embellished traditional costumes. Unique Willow Pattern tiles in this place of worship speak the Cochin Jews' once thriving trade links with China.
Overlooking the Jewish Synagogue, protectively, is the Mattanchery Palace of the former rajas of Cochin. Today it holds royal planquins, weapons, robes and beutiful murals of ancient Hindu epics painted in vegetable dyes. But, when the Portuguese were ousted by the Dutch on January 7, 1663, the people of Cochin renamed the Mattancherry Palace, The Dutch Palace to honour the Netherlanders.

Also, above the gateway to Stuber Hall, the crest of the Dutch East India Company has been poudly preserved. To this day, some families in Cochin bear Dutch names and claim descent from the old merchant princes of Holland.

The Dutch surrendered to the British on December 19, 1795. Though the old Portuguese fort has been reduced to just a Bastion House, The Fort Cochin area became, a centre of Britain's trading interests. Today, the Cochin Club, a mock half-timbered mansion, and the Old Harbour House ..... Once a Portuguese hospice but converted to an inn by the British .... date from this period.

Also from the days of the British Raj are the trading houses, still dealing with spices, coir, rubber and tea. Though they are Indian-Owned, their names reflect their British Empire Origins. Carrit Moran, Pierce Leslie, J Thomas, Forbes, Ewart and Figgis, Matheson Bosan quet... to name a few. Many of their senior executivesstill live in the old Raj houses in Fort Cochin.

On the 15th of August 1947, however, the Lion Capital of Ancient Indian Emperor Ashoka replaced the British Crown. Indians once again began to control their destiny, 445 years after Vasco da Gama first established Cochin as the Crossroads of the Battling Empires of Europe.